Anime having to do with the internet

[roastedpekingduck]

A while back, I watched and enjoyed the heck out of Lain and Ghost in the Shell, and am currently watching Denno Coil, which I'm utterly loving as well. What other anime series have substantially involved the internet and digital world into their stories and thematics?

[jojo_home]

The Hack/Sign series?

Welcome to the NHK also has some lengthy story arcs about internet use.

[The Great Bear]

Well, I guess you could say the whole .hack franchise would qualify, since it takes place in a huge MMORPG.

[roastedpekingduck]

True, I completely forgot about .hack and NHK.

[Lego]

Hmm, interesting. I had a knee jerk reaction to Paranoia Agent, but I'm not sure why. All I can really think of is GITS, but thats the obvious choice.

[Shiroi Hane]

Well, the best are already gone..

Battle Programmer Shirase would probably count I guess
Corrector Yui I've never seen, but is about computer viruses on the internet if I remember the first volume of the manga correctly
Baldr force EXE seems to be centered around some sort of futuristic internet
The Digimon series are all based on the concept of a "digital world" that overlaps the real world's computer networks, similar to Lain's Wired (the head writer for Tamers was none other than Konaka of Lain fame)

[HellKorn]

The first two Digimon films.

No, seriously! I love them!

They're directed by Mamoru Hosoda. You would probably recognize his name for being the director behind The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

AniPages wrote a review some years back. Check it out here. (http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php?p=48&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) It really captures the exact appeal of the films well.

The first one, Digimon Adventure: The Movie is the stronger one (for reasons I'll note below) and has the exact appeal of the better Ghibli films. It's a simple but strong story with the usual touches of Hosoda's brilliance.

The next one, Children's War Game, takes the suspense to a higher level. Hosoda's sense of humor also shows up a lot. I can't even remember the amount of times I laughed during the film. It's climax suffers from a bit of deus ex machina, but otherwise it's a perfectly fine work.

Loved both so much that I actually imported the DVD. No subtitles, but they are available around the Internet. The R1 DVD release by Fox is problematic as its edited and tries to create one story from the first three Digimon movies, the last one which Hosoda didn't even direct.

I plan on creating a thread sometime next week to cover more of the above two along with Hosoda's other marks of genius. Look out for it.

Also, Konaka did indeed write the third Digimon series. I have no idea how it would hold up if I watched it now, but I do remember that it was my favorite anime series when I was younger.

[LenMiyata]

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Series that haven't been mentioned yet...

'Key the Metal Idol', one of the best Cyberpunk series ever made, where Key becomes a Idol sensation on the Internet before her concert debut...

'Chobits' based on the CLAMP manga series, which raises the question, "What would happen if your personal computers could talk back???"

'Angelic Layer' another CLAMP based series where the characters use remote mind controlled cybernetic dolls that fight on a holographic playing field

'Hand Maid May' Pioneer series where the main character is a USB accessory

The Satoshi Kon movie 'Perfect Blue' where the main actress character is stalked (among other places...) on a Internet website...

[Pelianth]

'Angelic Layer' another CLAMP based series where the characters use remote mind controlled cybernetic dolls that fight on a holographic playing field
Except that the OP asked for series involving the internet. While it involves cybernetic dolls I don't recall anyone more than possibly mentioning the net in passing, if they even did that much.

[danhawk]

plantonic chain is another good one

[LenMiyata]

'Angelic Layer' another CLAMP based series where the characters use remote mind controlled cybernetic dolls that fight on a holographic playing field
Except that the OP asked for series involving the internet. While it involves cybernetic dolls I don't recall anyone more than possibly mentioning the net in passing, if they even did that much.
Except that the original question was...
What other anime series have substantially involved the internet and digital world into their stories and thematics?
And there is no doubt that the 'Layer' combat arena of 'Angelic Layer' is a digital world....
There are other series that have one or two episodes about the Internet, as both 'Negima!?' and 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumia' have website development episodes, though both are not series that you would consider the Internet, or digital technology as a primary component...

[Sensuifu]

Buttobi CPU
Yukikaze
Macross Plus

[pathos]

Battle Programmer Shiraise (or however it's spelled)

Oh, thats probably nothing like what you want to watch. Forgive me :>

[Njr Scrawl]

An OVA not released in the US, "Digital Devil".

It was release on DVD in the UK, sharing with Leiji Matsumoto's "The Cockpit".

[Skywise]

Komugi :).

[Legion]

Tokyo Revelation involves someone summoning demons to Earth using the internet. It's not a great anime though. Passable, but not really memorable, despite being based on the very involving Shin Megami Tensei video games..

[Orihara_Kaoru]

I have not seen it yet (first vol shipped, yay!), but doesn't Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) have something to do with the internet? Like, you post on a website/chat room and she'll kill the person for you?

[Shiroi Hane]

I considered it, but thought it peripheral to the story; in the past she used newpaper ads and letters, and the show could just as easily have been set in that period.

[pianocello]

The last quarter of Kaze no Stigma deals with the internet and features many internet geeks.

[DocWatson]

Digimon is one of the 100 series included as a classic in Anime Classics Zettai!: 100 Must-See Japanese Animation Masterpieces (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/1933330228/animeondvd).

I suggest:

• The recent Paprika (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6142) (suggested by Perfect Blue)
• Compiler (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=131) (suggested by Corrector Yui)
• Hand Maid Mai (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1836) (suggested by Hand Maid May)
• VirtuaCall (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2962)
• Dream Hazard (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3075)
• luv wave (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4750)
and possibly:

• (Spoiler:) él (link (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2122))
• Flashback (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4655) (AKA Flashback Game)
• Pure Mail (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4467)
To summarize so far:

• .hack (all)
• Angelic Layer
• BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution
• Battle Programmer Shirase
• Buttobi CPU / I Dream of Mimi
• Chobits
• Compiler (the series)
• Corrector Yui
• Dennou Boukenki Webdiver
• Denno Coil
• Digimon (all)
• Digital Devil
• Dream Hazard
• Ghost in the Shell (all)
• Hand Maid May and the sequel Hand Maid Mai
• Kaze no Stigma (last quarter of the series)
• Key the Metal Idol
• luv wave
• Macross Plus
• Mega Man NT Warrior / Mega Man EXE
• Megazone 23
• Nurse Witch Komugi
• Paprika
• Perfect Blue
• Platonic Chain
• Serial Experiments Lain
• Tokyo Revelation
• VirtuaCall
• Welcome to the NHK
• Yukikaze
• Zegapain
Possibly:

• él
• The Animatrix
• Flashback (AKA Flashback Game)
• Paranoia Agent
• Pure Mail
Did I miss anything that someone has suggested? Can anyone think of any other series? Would Bubblegum Crisis count (OAV or TV)?

[roastedpekingduck]

You missed Denno Coil.

[LenMiyata]

Grumble Grumble Grumble

There is also the 'Golden Age' OVA series known as 'Megazone 23' featuring a virtual pop artist and a computer controlled illusionary city, which along with 'Ghost in the Shell' was said to be highly influential in the development of the Matrix movies...

[Foxfossil]

Its not really internet but Zegapain is one where humanity lives in a virtual world, and then are materealized in the real world.

[Buckeye]

The Mega Man NT Warrior (EXE in Japan) series has an extensive amount of internet usage in the series.

[DocWatson]

I updated the list.

[Yukino Miyazawa]

I guess Dennou Boukenki Webdiver (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1301) counts, and maybe the Animatrix.

Cowboy Bebop had a few computer-related episodes, and Ed, the computer genius/hacker.

[Gatts]

If you wanted to really stretch it a bit, Hikaru no Go had several episodes where Hikaru let Sai play internet Go.

[Dracula on a bike]

The characters in GetBackers sometimes used the Internet to communicate with each other. There was one scene where an error message from the Apache HTTP server was shown.

Not necessarily involving the Internet, there was a scene in The Place Promised in Our Early Days where a character uses a Unix shell.

[Vicserr]

Also the mecha genre had his trip thru the net and virtual reality in the 80s with Video Senshi Laserion Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Warrior_Laserion), ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1440), OP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52uNiIHsImM).